I thought in light of all the depressing news, this wonderful project deserved a place here. If you click the link to their web site, you can read the names of those who have already signed this appeal to President Obama. Most of them I don't recognize, and I hope the likes of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and others ALSO put their money where their mouth is and sign this appeal.

“Patriotic Millionaires” Call for Their Tax Cuts to Expire By Joe Conason (www.salon.com)

Dozens of America's wealthiest taxpayers -- including hedge fund legend Michael Steinhardt, super trial lawyer Guy Saperstein, and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's fame -- have appealed to President Obama not to renew the Bush tax cuts for anyone earning more than $1 million a year. Calling themselves "Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength," the 40-plus signers today launched a website and a campaign that they hope will draw support from others who agree that fiscal responsibility should begin with those who can best afford it -- as their letter to Obama explains:

We are writing to urge you to stand firm against those who would put politics ahead of their country.For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled.

We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more.

We have done very well over the last several years. Now, during our nation's moment of need, we are eager to do our fair share. We don't need more tax cuts, and we understand that cutting our taxes will increase the deficit and the debt burden carried by other taxpayers. The country needs to meet its financial obligations in a just and responsible way.

Letting tax cuts for incomes over $1,000,000 expire, is an important step in that direction.The Patriotic Millionaires campaign, pulled together quickly by the Agenda Project in New York City, just happens to appear on the same day as a new study from the Center for Responsive Politics revealing that half of the members of the House and the Senate are millionaires. That contrasts sharply with the general population, of whom fewer than 1 percent can claim millionaire status.

Not surprisingly, some of the super-rich declined to join the Patriotic Millionaires when the Agenda Project reached out to them. At least two airily dismissed the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and above -- which will cost well over $700 billion over the coming decade -- as "small potatoes." And a Manhattan hedge fund billionaire said he believes the cuts should be extended and added that "the moneys should be used to pay down debt" -- which sounds like the magical Republican plan to simultaneously cut taxes, wage war and drastically reduce the deficit. The same investor also complained that "anyone who has money is made to feel that they're bad."

Bad? Only if they'd rather force Grandma to eat cat food than pay their fair share.

Shortly after watching one of the EA school dvds and learning about Jupiter's connection with sciatica, good ol' Jupiter crossed my ascent and, on the exact day, I had a lower back injury which led onto months of sciatica pain.the reason I share this is that I've come upon a practice that has been the most healing of all the various things I have tried. This person's story is amazing and beautiful and I believe anyone with any spinal/back issues from low pelvis/sciatica to upper neck would greatly benefit from this simple practice. I have already had amazing progress in my own healing as a result.

Bradley, sounds like you've come across a wonderful healing technique for yourself, and I thank you for sharing it here. However, the www.edgu.com URL didn't work for me, so I did a Google search and found that www.edgu.org took me to a site that has an interesting lower back/leg technique and am wondering if this is the one you meant. Please let us know, if you would, so others can start their own healing process. And I wish you continued health and good healing.

Secret Santa II hit the streets Tuesday in a long-standing Kansas City tradition of handing out $100 bills - sometimes several at a time - to unsuspecting strangers in thrift stores, food pantries and shelters.

Burnadette Turner, left, gives Secret Santa a hug after he gave her a couple $100 bills at a thrift store Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 in Kansas City, Kan. Secret Santa II, the man who followed Kansas City's original Secret Santa Larry Stewart, handed out about $10,000 Tuesday to people in thrift stores and pantries, bringing gasps and thanks. Like Stewart, who gave away more than $1 million to strangers each December, this Secret Santa also prefers to stay anonymous.Enlarge this photo

CHARLIE RIEDEL / AP

Burnadette Turner, left, gives Secret Santa a hug after he gave her a couple $100 bills at a thrift store Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 in Kansas City, Kan. Secret Santa II, the man who followed Kansas City's original Secret Santa Larry Stewart, handed out about $10,000 Tuesday to people in thrift stores and pantries, bringing gasps and thanks. Like Stewart, who gave away more than $1 million to strangers each December, this Secret Santa also prefers to stay anonymous.

Secret Santa II hit the streets Tuesday in a long-standing Kansas City tradition of handing out $100 bills - sometimes several at a time - to unsuspecting strangers in thrift stores, food pantries and shelters.

Some people gasped in surprise. Some wanted to know if the $100 bill the tall man in the red cap offered was fake. Others wept.

Secret Santa II has seen a lot of reactions since taking over where his mentor, Kansas City's original Secret Santa, Larry Stewart, left off when he died in 2007 at age 58. Like Stewart, who gave away more than $1 million to strangers each December in mostly $100 bills, this Secret Santa prefers to stay anonymous.

A fake white beard taped to his face, Secret Santa II handed out about $10,000 in total Tuesday. Recipients included a police officer with terminal cancer, a homeless man pushing a rickety old shopping cart, an 81-year-old woman who had recently told her 27 grandchildren she wouldn't be able to afford any Christmas gifts, and Bernadette Turner, a 32-year-old unemployed mother of two.

"It's hard to come by," Turner said looking in disbelief at the $200 Secret Santa had given her.

Then one of Santa's "elves" - another tall man in a red cap - sidled up to next to Turner, asked a few questions, and handed her an additional $100. Turner, whose children are 3 and 8, was overcome.

"I can only afford one gift for each child. But now ...." she said, wiping tears from her cheeks and reaching out for a hug.

"Do you believe in Santa Claus?" Capt. Ray Wynn of the Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department, asked from a few feet away. Wynn had followed Stewart on many "sleigh rides" around the country and now follows this Secret Santa, providing stories, memories and amusing sound effects.

"I do now," Turner said. "I do now."

Secret Santa II took over from Stewart about the time the recession hit and the economy went into a tailspin. Like Stewart, this Secret Santa doesn't talk about his own finances, where those $100 bills come from and if - like for so many people now - they've been harder to come by.

Come December, he just fills his pockets with money, dons his red cap and heads out looking for people to make really happy.

He will likely hand out about $40,000 this December. He says he'll go "till the money runs out."

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"The recession, unemployment. This is the time you don't want to stop. You don't want to back off," he said.

He walked up to Peggy Potter, 59, of Kansas City, Kan., who was looking at some framed prints at a thrift store. He made some small talk, put his arm around her and within minutes she was crying. Her son died about a year and a half ago. Her husband died in July and her daughter died soon after that.

"I'm just ... today's been a rough day for me, just thinking about my loved ones," she said. "I've been having a hard time paying for all the funerals."

Santa gave her $200, listened more, hugged her, and told her the poster she was holding had special meaning. It was a photo of two hands, one large, one small. Words printed at the bottom could have been written by Secret Santa, the original or the current one.

My God, what a beautiful story that touched my soul and brought tears flooding down my cheeks. It was especially difficult to read about the woman who had lost her husband and two children all within the last year and a half. I can't even begin to imagine her pain and grief and sadness, but my heart goes out to her.

But it was so wonderful to read something like this--so caring, so loving--in the middle of all the darkness and depression. And the help going to those who need it most. A VERY touching story, Rad. Thank you for posting it.

Thanks for the additional link, Bradley. It looks like an interesting practice, but a bit difficult to get the total gist of it with the speed up parts of the video. I went on to watch a little of an interview with the 'founder' of the technique--Jeffrey "Page" Redman. Interesting and unusual man.

Below is a link to a video about the Sustainable Economies Law Center. They're purpose is to help people navigate the legal terrains involved in actually manifesting sustainable, cooperative economies. In the youtube link, they do a really great job of identifying where these new economies fall in terms of legal issues and then explaining their role - to help people navigate this terrain. It was educational for me to see that these new economies fall into legal gray zones.......

Ode Magazine (a wonderful publication for "intelligent optimists") has an online presence and offers a daily email newsletter titled, "And now for the good news," which relates stories of neat things people are doing all over the planet. You can subscribe to the email newsletter here: http://www.odemagazine.com/p/good-news

It's no secret that we're big Buffy fans here at C&L, and one of my favorite characters is bad-girl vampire slayer Faith, played by actress Eliza Dushku. She's turning 30 this year, and she's using the occasion for a very special fundraising effort. In a time when most actresses seem obsessed with plastic surgery, high fashion and Botox, it's nice to know there's one who's beautiful on the inside, in the best possible way. If you can, please contribute.

Via Tonic.com:Eliza Dushku recently got in touch with Tonic to tell us what she wants for her 30th birthday on Dec. 30. Er, actually she told us what she doesn't want —anything. Instead, she's asking everyone to join her 30/30/30 goal to raise the $30,000 it will take to acquire the land to build a comprehensive recovery center for former child soldiers in Gulu, Uganda.

You see, the fact that Duskhu's mother has been an African politics professor for more than 40 years is more than a bit of Hollywood trivia — it colors how Dushku sees the world."As my mother's daughter, and turning 30, I'm realizing how many stories I want to tell about the people of the world. I'm an internationalist at heart," she tells Tonic. At this turning point in her life, she wants to help children affected by Uganda's civil war. She's counting on your help to do so.

Mentioning her young niece and nephew, she says, "Think of these kids being forced to become killers. I can't imagine anything more horrifying."Constructing and running the rehabilitation center is the mission of THARCE-Gulu (Trauma Healing and Reflection Center), the nonprofit organization her mom, Judith Dushku of Boston's Suffolk University, recently founded with colleagues on the ground in Uganda. It will focus mainly on women and their children who are still recovering from abduction and sex slavery suffered during Uganda's civil war.

The idea was sparked in July 2009, when Dushku went to Gulu with her mother, her boyfriend, Rick Fox, and a group of students on a trip focused on the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of former child soldiers and other victims of war. "Kids are still coming out of the bush, "she says, "after being grabbed out of bed in the middle of the night and handed an AK-47."

She can't forget the people she met, including a group of teenagers who had been soldiers and a woman who had been forced into sex slavery and now runs a successful bead business. She also can't shake the things she saw, like the wheelchair basketball game among people who lost legs in the war and the practice of putting a boy whose family was killed and the boy who killed them on the same sports team.What especially touched her, she says, is "what you learn about forgiveness. We get so resentful and we hold grudges over so many trivial things here. To be able to forgive someone who macheted your entire family and to live as neighbors, that's amazing."

THARCE-Gulu's blueprints are drawn up. The team is in place. The curriculum, which includes film-making, music and art therapy workshops, is planned. Now all that's needed is a building and the plot of land to put it on. Please spread the word and, if you can, donate to wish Eliza a happy birthday.You can also learn more about THARCE-Gulu at its website here

I've known about alternative health sites, but this is a new one (to me). What Doctors Don't Tell You (http://www.wddty.com/about-us.html). This is the description of what they do. YAY!!!! The News and Community items are free to read, but for more content the site says it's about 13p (20 cents) per day.

What Doctors Don't Tell You is a health journal that is published every month. It is available only by subscription and it cannot be bought on the news-stands. It is published by WDDTY Publishing Ltd., a private company.

As a health information resource, we cannot offer advice on any specific problem. Instead, we offer general information that may be helpful in finding the right treatment for you. You shouldn't start, stop or alter any therapy without first consulting with a qualified health practitioner.

The first issue of What Doctors Don't Tell You appeared at the end of 1989. It grew from a sense of frustration with conventional medicine, and a desire to tell others about its short-comings and dangers. It was started by award-winning journalist Lynne McTaggart and her husband, Bryan Hubbard, also a senior journalist.

Lynne had suffered from a mysterious illness for around five years, during which time she had passed through a medical odyssey of conventional, alternative and strange treatments. She encountered treatments that either didn't work or were dangerous.

Before launching What Doctors Don't Tell You, Lynne had worked closely with the legendary Dr Robert Mendelsohn in America, who was one of the first doctors to blow the whistle on medical practices.

Since its launch all those years ago, What Doctors Don't Tell You has been acknowledged as one of the world's very best health newsletters by several commentators, including leading publisher and health campaigner Burton Goldberg, leading holistic healer Dr John Diamond and the Holistic Health Library.

It accepts no donations from government bodies, industry groups or companies, but relies for its survival and success only from the subscription income it receives from its many thousands of subscribers around the world.

Its hallmark has been its in-depth research, and hard-won information of a quality that can change lives for the better. It's been cited in law courts, it's been used to encourage doctors to change their treatments, and our filing cabinets are full of testimonials from thousands of people whose lives have been helped by our information.

We've also published around 35 books on health, we run regular workshops and conferences, and - best of all - everything we've ever written is available on this website for you to search.

George Clooney is spearheading an effort to deploy commercial satellites to monitor the border between Northern and Southern Sudan.

LOS ANGELES — George Clooney would like to bring a bit of Hollywood to one of the most remote and tense regions in Africa. Not red carpets and swag bags but the cold, intrusive, constant eye of a camera.

"You can go on Google Earth and Google my house," said the actor. "I thought, if that's the way it is and they're gonna be able to Google my house, then people who are committing war crimes, specifically the government of Sudan, should be able to enjoy the same level of celebrity that I do. These people are public figures, and we're gonna take their pictures."

Clooney is spearheading an effort to deploy commercial satellites to monitor the border between Northern and Southern Sudan as weeklong voting began Sunday on a referendum to determine if the South chooses independence or remains part of Sudan. The South, which fought a civil war with the predominantly Muslim North that left about 2 million people dead, is expected to vote to split Africa's largest country in two.

President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, based in Khartoum in the North, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from the violence. If Southern Sudanese, who are largely animist or Christian, vote to secede from the North, the South would take with it about 80 percent of Sudan's oil output, a vexing problem for Bashir.

Should fighting break out, Clooney's wildly ambitious goal — the culmination of his years of engagement with the war-torn country — is to do no less than prevent genocide.

The Satellite Sentinel Project is a collaboration among Not on Our Watch (the human-rights organization Clooney co-founded); the Enough Project (an anti-genocide group); the United Nations; Harvard University; Google; and Trellon, a company that builds websites.

On the project's site, www.satsentinel.org, anyone will be able to see high-resolution images of the 1,250-mile border. If violence breaks out, the site's backers hope its photographic evidence will put pressure on the U.N. Security Council or other countries to intervene.

Not on Our Watch, which Clooney founded with actors Don Cheadle, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon plus producer Jerry Weintraub and former Clinton State Department official David Pressman, provided the project's $650,000 in startup funds.

"We have the ability to create deterrence," said Clooney, now on his seventh trip to Sudan and its bordering nation of Chad. "You might not want to put tanks, helicopters or planes on the ground or in these border regions, 'cause we're watching."

Clooney first visited Sudan in 2006 and filmed a documentary there with his father, broadcast journalist Nick Clooney. Later that year, the actor addressed the U.N. Security Council about the issue and traveled to China and Egypt with Cheadle to try to persuade officials there to use their ties with Sudan's government to help stop the violence.

Clooney's pleas for peace in Sudan have taken him from the White House, where he met with President Obama a month after his inauguration, to remote border villages. In one attempt to persuade a rebel leader to attend a peace conference, the actor donated money to the shoe store of the rebel's father. (It didn't work.)

Clooney's idea for the Satellite Sentinel Project began to take shape on a trip to Sudan in October. After Not On Our Watch provided the startup money, other organizations and companies quickly joined the partnership in time for its launch in late December.

"This is George Clooney's brainchild, and the scope of it is unprecedented," said David Yanagizawa-Drott, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, who will be evaluating the program's results for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. "It takes state-of-the-art technology and makes human-rights documentation public and visual in near real time. This is not just postmortem documentation of a conflict. This is saying, before a potential civil war breaks out, we will document it."

Clooney has been circumspect about his work in the region, calling his efforts "the greatest failure of my life" in an interview with Britain's the Sun newspaper last September.

"Nothing's really changed," he said this week. "When 300,000 innocent civilians are systematically raped and murdered, then it's a failure on every level. I'm old-fashioned. I like to win the ballgame, not just say we played really well and lost."

Hi There,Linda and all on this thread.I was interested in the content as i sort of enjoy turning people on to the C C but for its a hard one isn't it....as we all know at E A and anyone needing to spread the word .. but had a great breakthrough with a couple of men folk around me (individuated)..Looking but not seeing if that makes sense so ..decided a good stocking filler would be the David Icke lectures.. which correlate in their own way..V Uranus!.. Since then one guy with natal Uranus in Scorpio/Neptune in Sagg.. SN of Nep.in Gem in 12th and SN of Uranus, merc, venus, mars and ceres!! all in Sagg...a cosmic..HELLO ! time to wake up now!!..It worked, he told me just last night he had had an 'experience' ..Hes Cappy ..so a tough old goat!! ..very very grounded.. but It worked a treat...their way of getting it.. the Matrix stuff..you know..Which Pill do I take?.Something is stirring in him now..sort of a wonderful Uranian/ Neptunian spiritual soup... fits quite well alongside the conspiracy theories .... Groovy!All roads lead to Rome eh?...just takes a little longer to get there..and a little spark (cosmic breath)to kindle the flame.Just wanted to share.Light for the journey.Maggie

Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, has a new networking site that expands on the idea of social networking. Below is an explanation of and on the site, why it was founded and what it hopes to help people accomplish. The idea is to make it easier for people to get involved in helping each other and the world around them--through both volunteering and financial support.

Jumo is a social network connecting individuals and organizations who want to change the world. Leveraging connection technologies, Jumo enables people to find, follow and support those working toward solutions on the ground in their community and in regions across the globe.

Jumo is founded and directed by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and director of online organizing for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.

Why Jumo?

Founded in February 2010, Jumo set out to address three key challenges:

* There are millions of people working to improve the lives of others, many of whom lack the resources to have greatest impact.

This is hard as there is just so many folks out here dedicated to the greater good!

Here's a few dedicated to healing though.

"Soldier’s Heart has created a unique and comprehensive model to address the emotional, moral, and spiritual needs of veterans, their families and communities. Our goal is to alleviate the symptoms of PTSD by developing a new and honorable warrior identity through storytelling, purification, community forgiveness and healing (so key)"http://www.soldiersheart.net/index.shtml

Here's resourceful site provided by Joseph Naft that offers tons of free spiritual education articles and MP3's. "Inner Frontier presents practical, effective, balanced methods for cultivating presence and opening our heart-mind to the spiritual depths. We offer, in part, a new synthesis and adaptation of practices drawn from the major spiritual traditions. It is our hope and intention that these pages prove useful and beneficial to those who put them into practice." http://www.innerfrontier.org/index.html